Always sanitary products to remove female logo in a bid for transgender and nonbinary inclusivity

25 October 2019, 12:23 | Updated: 25 October 2019, 15:53

Always is a female-positive company and want to be inclusive. Picture: Getty

By Mared Parry

The pads and tampons manufacturer has removed the Venus logo from their wrapping.

The sanitary product company Always has always had a good reputation, especially for championing female empowerment, so it's no surprise that the forward-thinking company has decided to ditch their female logo from the packaging.

The Venus symbol has always historically been used to represent the female sex, with the logo being present on the sanitary products' wrapper for years, but many transgender males who haven't undergone bottom surgery yet and therefore, still have periods, as well as non-binary people, have called for it to be removed.

Many LGBT+ activists have spoken out about and called for change. Picture: Getty

It's a fair statement to make, as the many transgender activists and allies have been publicly urging the Procter and Gamble-owned company to redesign the pad wrapper without a gender symbol.

After all, having the symbol is not a necessity and its removal would indeed help to not alienate and make those who already feel excluded, feel a bit more included by not branding sanitary pads as just for the female sex.

Hey @Always can you get rid of the female symbol on all the packaging? Trans men and non-binary people have periods too.
— Earl of Chublington (@villainny) October 6, 2019

One person who wanted to see chance took to Twitter earlier this month to say: "Hi @Always, I understand that you guys love girl positivity but please understand that there are trans men that get periods, and if you could please do something about the Venus symbol on your pad packaging, I’d be happy.

"I’d hate to have any trans males feel dysphoric."

Thank you for sharing with us. The experiences of all who use our products is important, and we hear you. We'll be passing this along to our team. 💙
— Always (@Always) October 7, 2019

Earlier this week, Always has made a statement, addressing the calls for change stating that they will be taking the feedback into consideration and that the packaging will change from December this year and will hopefully be in all stores from February 2020..

Procter and Gamble stated to Metro: "For over 35 years Always has championed girls and women, and we will continue to do so.

"We’re also committed to diversity and inclusion, and after hearing from many people across genders and age groups, we realised that not everyone who has a period and needs to use a pad identifies as female.”

Always added: "We are absolutely grateful for having people like you voicing their opinions. Thank you for contacting us, your comments help us improve everyday!”